Fort Worth police officer's attorneys claim 2016 incident is to blame for recent arrest
FORT WORTH, Texas - The Fort Worth police officer who was arrested after an off-duty shooting says he was doing his duty when he chased a driver who hit his car.
Fort Worth police arrested Officer William Martin on Friday and charged him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Fort Worth Police Officer William Martin arrested for off-duty shooting, released on bond shortly after
Fort Worth police say Martin did a "jail walkthrough" on Friday, meaning he walked in with his attorney to turn himself in, was fingerprinted, posted bond and walked out. He did not spend any time detained.
Martin was leaving work in his Honda Accord on September 3, when he says he was hit by a Ford F-150.
He then chased the driver as he talked with 911.
In a sworn affidavit provided to FOX 4 by his legal team, Martin claims he eventually boxed the driver in and the truck rammed his car.
He says he got out of his vehicle, pointed his gun at the truck and demanded that the driver get out.
William Martin (Tarrant County Jail)
When he heard the truck's engine rev and move forward, he opened fire.
"I believe then, as I believe now, that the driver would have run over me if I had not taken defensive action," Martin wrote in his affidavit.
While Martin says he intended to identify himself as an officer, it's not clear in the statement if he ever did.
The driver of the truck, later identified as Samuel Christopher, was struck multiple times but survived.
Christopher’s attorneys tell FOX 4 he was "unarmed" and that he’s cooperating with law enforcement related to the investigation.
Hit-and-run suspect shot after crash with off-duty Fort Worth officer
Police say the off-duty officer called 911 and said he started following a red truck that hit him near I-35W and Morningside Drive and then drove away.
Martin's attorneys also say that their client is cooperating with the police investigation, but that his past is getting in the way of the investigation.
"Once it was leaked (by who?) to the media that the events of September 3, 2024 involved the same officer as was involved in the 'Jackie Craig' case, it is our belief that, no matter the objective facts of September 3, 2024, the arrest of Officer Martin was a foregone conclusion," wrote P. Michael Schneider, Martin's attorney.
Martin was released on bond after his arrest on Friday.
He is currently on "detached duty" from the Fort Worth Police Department pending an Internal Affairs investigation into the incident.
Jacqueline Craig Arrest
Martin, who has worked for the Fort Worth Police Department for 19 years, received a 10-day suspension for a high-profile arrest in 2016.
Jacqueline Craig and her daughter complained that Martin used excessive force on them after Craig called police to complain about her neighbor.
Video showed Martin wrestling Craig and one of her daughters to the ground. The incident was released online and caught attention nationwide.
The Craig family sued Martin saying the force used in the arrest was unconstitutionally excessive, but a panel of judges on Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Martin, overruling a district court.
Craig's family later settled a lawsuit with the city for $150,000.
Martin appealed his suspension in the case, but the appeal was denied.